Prewar history

The company's first records are advertisements dated 1937, showing the name Motodori Shashin Kikai Kōgyō-sho (本鳥写真機械工業所). The company was based in Tokyo, Ikebukuro (東京・池袋) and made Baldax copies called Semi Lester and later Victor.[1]

In 1938, the name "Victor Camera Works" (ビクターカメラ・ウオークス) was used in advertisements, together with the address of a postal box.[2] This English-sounding name was probably used for commercial and advertising purposes only, like most other prewar names ending in "Camera Works", and it was certainly not the name of any actual company (see Camera Works).

In 1940 and 1941, the name "Condor Camera Works", written in Roman letters, was used in the advertisements, together with the same postal box address as before.[4] This was certainly a dummy name again. The production of the Condor line continued until at least 1942.[5]

The official price list dated November 1941 attributes the Victor, Condor and Zeitax cameras to "Motodori Kōgaku" (本鳥光学).[6]

The government inquiry listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943 mentions the companies Motodori Kōgaku Kikai Kōgyō-sho (本鳥光学機械工業所) and Tokiwa Kōgaku at the same address: Toshima-ku Ikebukuro 1–606 in Tokyo (東京市豊島区池袋１の606).[7] Tokiwa Kōgaku appears in some advertisements dated 1942 and 1943 as the maker of the Zeitax II and III, mentioning the same address.[8] The company was obvious closely connected to Motodori, but the exact nature of their relationship is unknown.

The Semi Mulber 4.5×6 folder is also attributed to Motodori in the same government inquiry, as well as the Rifax 75/3.5 and Mulber 75/3.5 three-element lenses mounted on it.[9]

Postwar history

The company appeared again in the early 1950s as Tōkyō Seiki K.K. (東京精機㈱),[10] based in Tokiwadai (Tokyo).[11] It made the Semi Rocket 4.5×6 folder in 1951 and 1952, as well as its Convex shutters and Perfa lenses.[12] The company also made the New Rocket subminiature camera at an unknown date, aping the New Midget.[13] The latter camera sometimes displays the company name "Rocket Camera Co., Ltd.", which might be a dummy name, perpetuating the tradition inaugurated with "Victor Camera Works" or "Condor Camera Works", or might be the name of the importer of the camera into the United States.

From 1952, the company made another 4.5×6 folder called Doris, essentially a viewfinder-only version of the Semi Rocket. It is said that this name comes from a Mr Motodori (本鳥): "Dori's camera", thus "Doris".[14] The original name Motodori Shashin Kikai Kōgyō-sho strongly suggests that this Mr Motodori was the founder of the company. (Between 1939 and 1943, two 3×4 cameras called Doris and Baby Doris were distributed by Fukada Shōkai. It seems that the Baby Doris was made by Shinkō, and it is not known if they were related with the postwar camera.)

By 1955, the company had been renamed Doris Camera K.K. (ドリスカメラ株式会社), keeping the same address.[15] The range of models was extended with the Dorisflex TLR and the Doris Six 6×6 folder.

In 1957, the company had changed its name again to Condor Camera K.K. (コンドルカメラ株式会社), using the Condor name again. The address was still the same.[16] It made a 35mm rangefinder camera called Condor[17], externally a close copy of the Nikon S2. The internals of the two cameras are very different: the Condor has a leaf-shutter and a fixed lens while the Nikon has a focal plane shutter and a bayonet mount. It seems that this camera soon caused a controversy with Nippon Kōgaku and that the company was forced to alter the design, that became the Condor 2S, V2 and IIIS.

The Condor IIIS and perhaps the V2 have a nameplate marked Sanyo Kōgaku-Kikai Co., Ltd. It is not known if Condor Camera was bought by this company or if it voluntarily changed its name once more. It is not known either if this Sanyo is related to the well-known company Sanyō Denki (三洋電気). An 8mm movie camera called Azomax Model 8A displays the same logo and company name, it was perhaps one of the last products of the company.[18]

The last reference found to the Condor is dated 1959, and it seems that the remaining stocks were cleared under retailer brands such as Avigo or Rafuray.